For the above controller I realized that I needed the r8169 driver. I complied the driver with the 3.0.6 kernel, for an x86_64 architecture. I figured out that the above controller uses the r8169 driver by doing a lspci -k on a gentoo boot using the liveCD.

However, on booting gentoo amd64 with the new 3.0.6, although the r8169 module is loaded, it throws a bunch of errors at bootup, and the eth0 never comes up. I am unable to print the error over here, since after booting into 3.0.6 I am not able to bring the eth0 up, due to the above mentioned issues.

On the same box, I installed ubuntu 10.4 for the x86_64 architecture and the eth0 came up perfectly with the r8169 driver. On doing a depmod -a, I saw that the r8169 driver depends on mii.ko . I can see that on the 3.0.6 gentoo installation above this driver is definitely missing. Could this be the reason why the r8169 driver is failing?

Just wanted to add to the above post. How do you I figure out the menuconfig options that I need to enable to compile the mii.ko driver. I looked all over google, and most posts describe downloading the driver from the net.

I have a gentoo amd64 build. I compiled the 3.0.6 kernel . When I booted gentoo with the minimal install (using a USB key), the driver loaded up perfectly, and I was able to access the internet. However, after installing the amd64 build, and compiling the 3.0.6 kernel and modules, on booting up, the kernel showed a crash on the module r8169 while loading it. The relevant dmesg output/trace is given below:

Try making the r8169 driver as a module.
Some cards that use this module also need firmware patches. If you are affected by this, you will get a 60 sec pause in the boot sequence, while the module tries to load the patch.
dmesg will tell the name of the file you need.

Its also worth trying the 3.1.0 kernel.

Lastly, you may need a module from

Code:

< > PHY Device support and infrastructure --->

to find that enter menuconfig, press / and enter CONFIG_PHYLIB as a search term._________________Regards,

NeddySeagoon

Computer users fall into two groups:-
those that do backups
those that have never had a hard drive fail.

What is your motherboard? I have a Gigabyte GA-880GA-UD3H. The r8169 driver is flaky for my board. I had to download the r8168 driver from Realtek. It works fine but I have to rebuild it every time I rebuild the kernel. It seems the PCI ID is the same except for the revision, but the hardware is different. Google around and you will find some discussion.

Thanks Tony,
My motherboard is actually a Gigabyte H-67. I am going to try and upgrade the kernel to 3.1 to see if the crash goes away. But after that will definitely follow your advice. I did see the discussion thread you are referring too, and seems like the Realtek ethernet controlle is quite flaky.

My problem got solved once I compiled a new kernel with 3.1.0 . After booting with 3.1.0, things seems to be fine. If the driver(r8169) starts acting up, as I have seen in some other discussion I will go ahead and take the advice on this thread of using the alternate driver (r8168).

Any hope for me? :-/
I have the same network Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168B PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet controller (motherboard Gigabyte 990FXA-UD5
My problem is that I'm trying to install Gentoo from scratch on this box (new box) and the current kernel on ISO image is 3.0 (problematic one for this controller).
How do I go about it?
How to activate this network card?_________________#Joseph

Didn't see your post until now, Joseph. You pose an interesting question.

One method would be to move your hard drive to a different box, install gentoo including the driver I mentioned, then put it back into the new system and rebuild everything.

If that is not practical or too time consuming, I would proceed as follows:

1. Prepare a USB stick with a stage3 build and your desired kernel source code and the Realtek driver I mentioned above. Download these using another computer, perhaps one at your local public library or a friend's if you don't have anything else available.

2. Install using a livedvd or the system rescue disk to format et cetera. Follow the gentoo guide through step 5 (omitting step 3) but use the USB stick instead of downloading (which you can't do yet). If your USB isn't big enough to hold everything, you may have to do this in stages over the course of a few days, but anything 4G or larger is surely enough.

3. Boot into the new minimal system. Mount the USB stick and untar the kernel source into /usr/src and create the /usr/src/linux symlink.

Thanks for helping hand.
I did solve this problem. I took an older ISO image from last year; it make no difference how old the installation ISO is as long as you eth0 port "network card" works correctly. As everything is loaded from internet.
Instead of current stable kernel 3.06 (whatever) I downloaded 3.1.5 and that solved the problem._________________#Joseph

For the above controller I realized that I needed the r8169 driver. I complied the driver with the 3.0.6 kernel, for an x86_64 architecture. I figured out that the above controller uses the r8169 driver by doing a lspci -k on a gentoo boot using the liveCD.

However, on booting gentoo amd64 with the new 3.0.6, although the r8169 module is loaded, it throws a bunch of errors at bootup, and the eth0 never comes up. I am unable to print the error over here, since after booting into 3.0.6 I am not able to bring the eth0 up, due to the above mentioned issues.

On the same box, I installed ubuntu 10.4 for the x86_64 architecture and the eth0 came up perfectly with the r8169 driver. On doing a depmod -a, I saw that the r8169 driver depends on mii.ko . I can see that on the 3.0.6 gentoo installation above this driver is definitely missing. Could this be the reason why the r8169 driver is failing?

Thanks for helping hand.
I did solve this problem. I took an older ISO image from last year; it make no difference how old the installation ISO is as long as you eth0 port "network card" works correctly. As everything is loaded from internet.
Instead of current stable kernel 3.06 (whatever) I downloaded 3.1.5 and that solved the problem.

I'm just not sure whether the idea of taking an older LiveDVD (from two years ago) and booting would work in my case since my hardware didn't exist back then... Any other ideas? or should I just scrap this mobo and get another better-supported one?